Following Friday’s much anticipated release of Lise Davidsen and Leif Ove Andsnes’ new Grieg recital album on Decca Classics, the first reviews are flowing in. Today’s Sunday Times named it “Classical Album of the Week” and the Mail on Sunday gave it a full 5 stars with the headline “Totally captivating and packing a huge emotional punch … the best way to start 2022″. The Times said “whatever the register, Davidsen’s vibrant voice knows no kinks, and easily holds us in an iron grip … “ and the Financial Times added “it is a bonus to have Norway’s leading pianist, Leif Ove Andsnes, on hand to add accompaniments of sparkling precision.”
Gramophone chose the album as January’s “Recording of the Month” and commented: “Freshness is one of the characteristics that shines most compellingly throughout this generous 80-minute selection. There’s the freshness of Davidsen’s voice, for starters, which has a rare rich beauty and steely strength and grandeur, but which she is also able to pare down to the most intimate pianissimo … Andsnes’s role cannot be overestimated, either. His playing is supremely refined and sensitive: each note is placed and voiced with the utmost care, all temptations to grandstand resisted.”
Back home in Norway, appreciation is equally high, with Aftenposten commenting “Kraftfullt, friskt og overraskende”(“Powerful, fresh and surprising”) and NRK Radio “Vakker og storslått Grieg” (“Beautiful and magnificent Grieg”).